Plymouth State Football visits MIT

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Plymouth State
University makes its final road trip of the regular season this
Saturday, visiting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a
New England Football Conference Boyd Division affair.

The Panthers and Engineers will kick off at 12 noon Saturday at
Steinbrenner Stadium in Cambridge. Plymouth State, ranked
third in this week's New England Division III poll, is looking to
extend its winning streak to seven games and clinch at least a
share of the Boyd Division crown, while MIT is enjoying its best
season in nine years and will be out to upset the title-hungry
Panthers.

PSU, 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Boyd Division, is coming off one of
the biggest regular season wins in school history, a 28-17 triumph
over Curry College last Saturday, snapping the Colonels' 37-game
winning streak against NEFC opponents. The Panther defense
continued to excel, holding Curry to 296 yards and 17 points below
its season average. PSU leads the NEFC in rushing defense, scoring
defense and total defense. The Panther offense, which has
relied on a power running game this season, rushing the football
nearly 90 percent of the time, used big plays to knock off the
Colonels. PSU had five plays of 23 yards or longer, and four plays
that gained at least 45 yards.

MIT, 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Boyd Division, is coming off
back-to-back wins over Western New England College and Salve
Regina. MIT features the nation's leading rusher in DeRon Brown,
who has run for 1,474 yards (6.7 avg.) and 21 touchdowns. The
Engineers have put plenty of points on the board, averaging almost
37 points an outing, but are surrendering 35 points a game.
MIT, which finished 2-7 overall the past two seasons, has a chance
at its first winning season since going 6-4 in 1999.

Saturday will be just the third career meeting in football between
Plymouth State and MIT, since the Panthers were out of the NEFC
before MIT was admitted in 1997. The first two games the past two
years have both ended in lopsided Panther victories, PSU winning
35-3 two years ago in Cambridge and 27-0 last year in Plymouth.

PSU wraps up the regular season on Nov. 8 at home against Salve
Regina. The Panthers need just one win in their final two
games to clinch the honor of representing the Boyd Division in the
NEFC Championship game on Nov. 15 at the home of the Bogan Division
champion.

RED-HOT RED
ZONE: PSU has been terrific when it
counts, leading the NEFC in both red-zone offense (90 percent,
scoring on 27 of 30 attempts) and red-zone defense (56.7 percent,
allowing points on 17 of 30 chances). One of the keys to PSU's win
over Curry was allowing just 10 points to the Colonels in their
five first-half visits inside the Panther 20-yard line. Plymouth
State also leads the league in stopping fourth-down attempts,
allowing only 12 first-down conversions in 30 opponent tries.

RUNNING
OFFENSE: The Panthers have relied most
of this season on its power running game, gaining 290 of its 340
yards per game and scoring 30 of its 34 touchdowns on the ground.
PSU has thrown just nine passes over the past two weeks, but the
six completions average 36 yards a play and include gains of 45,
31, 12, 45, 62 and 23 yards.

MACK
ATTACK: The PSU ground game is led by
senior Jeff Mack (Milford, N.H.), who is tied for
fourth in the NEFC in rushing with 1,294 yards and ranked third in
scoring with 16 touchdowns. He has three 200-yard rushing
performances and another 197-yard effort, and his 1,294 yards is
fourth on PSU's single-season rushing list. Mack has climbed
into the second spot PSU's all-time rushing chart with 3,459 yards
on 614 carries (5.6 avg.) with 39 touchdowns. PSU's all-time
rushing leader is Joe Dudek, who ran for 5,560
yards (7.1 avg.) and 76 scores from 1982-85.

O-LINE
BROTHERS: Many offensive linemen refer
to their fellow linemates as their brothers, but for the Panthers,
they mean it. PSU has two sets of brothers starting on the
offensive line, opening the holes for PSU's powerful ground
game. Senior Joe Duval and junior
Zac Duval of Dover, N.H. and juniors Matt
Vahey and Mike Vahey of Fremont, N.H.,
all find themselves starting on the interior line. PSU has
two other sets as brothers as well, sophomore WR J.J.
Brooks and sophomore LB Zack Brooks of
Seabrook, N.H. and senior LB Brian Keenan and
freshman TE Mike Keenan of Hampstead, N.H.

NEFC
HONORS: Panther players have been
regulars on the weekly list of NEFC honors. The latest to be
recognized are sophomore LB Steve Campbell
(Northborough, Mass.), who was the Co-Defensive Player of the Week
after making nine tackles against Curry, including a sack, and
sophomore WR J.J. Brooks (Seabrook, N.H.), who was
on the Honor Roll after catching two passes for 107 yards and a TD.
Here are the Panthers who have received NEFC weekly honors this
season:

PSU AT
CURRIER FIELD: The Panthers are 4-0 at home
this season, running their Currier Field winning streak to 11,
dating back to 2006. PSU was 6-0 at home last season, the
first undefeated mark in home games since the Panthers were 4-0 in
1991, and the best undefeated home record since the 1984 team went
6-0. Plymouth State now has an all-time home record of
135-54-3 for a .711 winning percentage. PSU is 17-3 at home
since 2005.

ECAC
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: The honors
continue to pile up for senior Jeff Mack. In
addition to being honored six times in seven weeks by the NEFC, he
was named ECAC Northeast Co-Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after his
outstanding performance in PSU's win over WNEC. He ran for
197 yards and four touchdowns, including a career-long 66-yard
dash, before sitting out the entire second half.

GOLD
HELMET: In PSU's season-opening win over
Saint Anselm College, senior RB Jeff Mack rushed
for 204 yards and two touchdowns are earned the Boston Globe
Gold Helmet Award for Division II/III. He was presented the
award at the New England Football Writers' weekly luncheon at
Harvard University. It was the first Gold Helmet for a PSU player
since Russ Massahos rushed for six touchdowns
against Coast Guard in 1999.

PSU FOOTBALL
HISTORY: After beginning its football
program in 1970, Plymouth State was a member of the NEFC from
1971-91, winning or sharing nine titles in those 21 seasons.
The Panthers won or shared eight straight NEFC championships from
1981-88. PSU has the 12th-highest career winning percentage
(.636) among all NCAA Division III football programs.